The Changes Wyden/Udall Wanted to Section 215
As I've been reporting, Ron Wyden and Mark Udall unsuccessfully tried to get the Senate to require the government to reveal how it interprets the PATRIOT Act. And since both have made it clear that Section 215 is one of the concerns, I wanted…
Navy SEALs Beat Osama bin Laden ... and Then Mickey
And here I thought the 83 year old Mouse was tougher than the graying terrorist watching home videos with all the kids. But it turns out that the Navy SEALs bested Mickey Mouse just as handily as they killed Osama bin Laden. (h/t JL)
Walt Disney…
The Government's PATRIOTic Databases on Innocent Americans
As I reported yesterday, one of the amendments to the PATRIOT Act Harry Reid made sure wouldn't get a vote pertained to making it clear how the government interprets the PATRIOT Act. Mark Udall and Ron Wyden wanted to force the government…
The Circumstantial Case against Bruce Ivins Gets Weaker
It seems we're going to be discussing anthrax in detail again. And in anticipation of those discussions, I wanted to challenge the notion that the circumstantial evidence against Ivins remains strong.
The whole case depends on the FBI's contention…
Nadler Wants to Know Why FBI Lied to Him about Anthrax
That's a very good question, Congressman Nadler:
On September 16, 2008, the House Committee on the Judiciary, on which I sit, conducted an oversight hearing of the FBI at which you testified. At that hearing, I asked you the following: “[W]hat…
Obama Misses the Lesson in NY-26
Congratulations to Kathy Hochul, who rode a disciplined campaign against Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare to victory in a Republican Congressional district tonight.
There's a lesson here. Republicans voted on Ryan's shitty plan. Which…
Wyden and Udall Want Obama to Admit to Secret Collection Program
Ron Wyden and Mark Udall have an amendment to the PATRIOT Act that makes it clear the Obama Administration briefed the Intelligence Committees in February on an intelligence collection program, conducted under PATRIOT authority, that interprets…
Obama's Secret Cyberwars
I sort of get the feeling that the entire legislative effort on cyberwar is going on in a classified annex.
Nevertheless, even from what we can see, we've got a dispute. As I noted a few weeks back, The House Armed Services Committee included…
Obama Issues Veto Threat on Forever War
The Administration just issued its official position on the House Armed Services Committee Defense Authorization bill. In it, Obama issues veto threats on several issues, including an extra engine for the Joint Strike Fighter and limits on START…
Republicans Would Rather Red-Staters Die than Pay for Externalities Related to Oil
We're on our second near-record tornado this year and summer hasn't even started. Joplin, MO and Birmingham, AL have been especially hard hit, but much of flyover country is set to spend the summer hunkering down to hide from truly horrifying…
Dear DNC: Automotive "I Told You Sos" Need to Be Directed Down-Ticket, Too
The DNC and Midwestern state Democratic Parties are rolling out an extravaganza today, using the occasion of Chrysler paying back some of its federal loans to mock GOP presidential candidates for opposing the auto bailout.
The DNC had a press…
Government Subpoenas James Risen for the Third Time
The government appears to hope three time's a charm. The last two times they subpoenaed James Risen in the case of Jeffrey Sterling, Judge Leonie Brinkema quashed the subpoena. But they're trying again, this time to get him to testify at Sterling's…
Why Didn't FBI Investigate AFIP's Role in Starting the Iraq-Anthrax Rumors?
I've been reading the National Academy of Sciences Anthrax Report and noted something odd in follow-up to the McClatchy report of the other day describing unexplained tin and silicon in one of the anthrax samples. (Here's Jim White's post on…
Did Thomas Drake Include Privacy Concerns in His Complaints to DOD's Inspector General?
I've been reviewing the docket on Thomas Drake's case to see whether it touches on the privacy concerns Drake had about NSA's post-9/11 activities.
It appears it doesn't, even while there was an ongoing dispute about whether or not Drake…
Thomas Drake Complained about Michael Hayden Spending $1B to Do What $3M Could Do
Thomas Drake, the NSA whistleblower, was on 60 Minutes this evening. I'll have more to say about his appearance and case going forward, but I just wanted to highlight a critical detail revealed by 60 Minutes: the relative cost of Trailblazer--the…
First Mickey Donned Night Vision Goggles, Now Mickey Embraces GateGrope
I'll admit, I was merely disgusted when Mickey Mouse tried to trademark Seal Team 6. But Mickey's seeming embrace of GateGrope is far more disturbing. (h/t Bruce Schneier) In a press release boasting about changes to Walt Disney World's Star…
NSA Twice Chose to Forgo Privacy Protections in Domestic Data Mining Programs
While Jane Mayer's profile on NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake has generated a lot of attention for the way Obama's DOJ is senselessly prosecuting him, there has been less focus on the key revelation that Drake and others went on the record to…
War, Intelligence, Law and Forever
There are a number of oddly coinciding legal issues that I wanted to pull together into one post.
The Administration Fudges the War Powers Act
First and most obviously, today is the day the 60-day grace period for Libya under the War Powers…
Karl Rove, Bankster Bailer
I'm not surprised that Karl Rove has weighed in on the foreclosure fraud scandal with an erroneous op-ed in the WSJ. I'm just a bit baffled why he did so now.
The overall gist of the op-ed is that a $20 billion settlement of the robosigning…
If Only They Had Listened to Thomas Drake, They Might Have Prevented CableGate
I'm in the process of reading all the Siobhan Gorman stories for which Thomas Drake might have served as an anonymous source. And one of the ten or so articles for which he's a possible source exposes the NSA's failure on an issue at the heart…